Climate and average weather in Colon

In Colon, the weather is muggy, hot, wet, and partly cloudy and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near hot levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around November.

Best: early January to early April

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Colon typically varies from 25°C to 29°C, and is rarely below 24°C or above 31°C. April is the hottest month of the year, while November is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Colon for warm-weather activities is from early January to early April.

Hottest
Apr
29°
Coldest
Nov
25°
Wettest
Nov
341 mm
Driest
Feb
35 mm
Rain / yr
2648 mm
291 wet days
Daylight
11.5–12.5 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
2 m
9.4°N
Clearest
Feb
45% cloud

Colon is sea port on the Caribbean Sea (Atlantic) coast of Panama.

Founded
1850

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

Colon weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around early January to early April.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Colon, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

Temperatures in Colon stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is April, with an average high of 29°C and low of 25°C; the coolest is November, with an average low of 25°C and high of 28°C.

Days typically run about 4°C warmer than nights year-round.

20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2925
Feb2925
Mar2925
Apr2925
May2925
Jun2925
Jul2925
Aug2925
Sep2925
Oct2925
Nov2825
Dec2825

How hot and cold Colon really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the hottest afternoons, once humidity is folded in, Colon feels like about 35°C (around June 4). About 326 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in June.

20°25°30°35°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan32292525
Feb32292525
Mar33292525
Apr34292525
May35292525
Jun35292525
Jul34292525
Aug34292525
Sep34292525
Oct34292525
Nov32282425
Dec32282525

Average hourly temperature in Colon

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on April afternoons, near 29°C, and coldest before dawn in November, near 25°C.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Colon weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan29° / 25°6315.411.55.2
Feb29° / 25°359.811.75.6
Mar29° / 25°4111.611.95.3
Apr29° / 25°12720.112.24.0
May29° / 25°28429.412.42.8
Jun29° / 25°28929.412.52.7
Jul29° / 25°33430.512.52.8
Aug29° / 25°32530.612.32.7
Sep29° / 25°30029.512.12.7
Oct29° / 25°32030.111.82.8
Nov28° / 25°3412911.63.1
Dec28° / 25°19025.511.53.8

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Colon gets about 2648 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is very wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 7.8 months, from around Apr 26 to Dec 18, peaking in July at about 99% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Feb 23.

November is the wettest month by volume, with 341 mm over about 29 wet days; February is the driest, with 35 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%110%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJul 20 · 99%Feb 23 · 32%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan5115
Feb3510
Mar3812
Apr6720
May9429
Jun9829
Jul9931
Aug9931
Sep9830
Oct9730
Nov9629
Dec8226

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Colon collects about 2648 mm of rain across 291 wet days — roughly 221 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. November is the wettest month with 341 mm, while February is the driest at just 35 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 38% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350400JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec633541127284289334325300320341190
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan6315
Feb3510
Mar4112
Apr12720
May28429
Jun28929
Jul33431
Aug32531
Sep30030
Oct32030
Nov34129
Dec19026

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Colon, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around December 4 and lasts for 4.6 months, ending around April 23. The clearest month is February, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 77% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around April 24 and lasts for 7.4 months, ending around December 3. The cloudiest month is August, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 98% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecFeb 22 · 78%Sep 8 · 1%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan7327
Feb7723
Mar7228
Apr4159
May892
Jun496
Jul298
Aug298
Sep298
Oct694
Nov1486
Dec4654

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around May 21, brings about 12 h 30 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 11 h 30 min — a swing of roughly 1 hour.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.56:446:14
Feb11.76:436:25
Mar11.96:316:27
Apr12.26:146:26
May12.46:036:29
Jun12.56:046:36
Jul12.56:106:40
Aug12.36:146:33
Sep12.16:126:15
Oct11.86:115:58
Nov11.66:185:52
Dec11.56:325:59

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Colon averages about 5 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 0 and 17 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 4.3 months, from around Dec 11 to Apr 20. The sunniest month is January, with roughly 15 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is June, down near 0 sunny days — about 100% fewer than the January peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyergloomymixedbrightJan 2817 daysJun 60 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan15Mixed
Feb15Bright
Mar13Mixed
Apr6Gloomy
May1Gloomy
Jun0Gloomy
Jul0Gloomy
Aug0Gloomy
Sep0Gloomy
Oct0Gloomy
Nov1Gloomy
Dec7Gloomy

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

Colon is humid all year round — on a typical day the air feels at least humid, and there is no real dry season to wait for.

The stickiest month is January, when it feels muggy, oppressive or miserable about 100% of the time. Even in January, the mildest month, the air is dry or comfortable only 0% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecmiserableoppressivemuggy
Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan3898
Feb7913
Mar8867
Apr26335
May02575
Jun02377
Jul03466
Aug03664
Sep04258
Oct05248
Nov06040
Dec17029

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Across the year, average wind speed in Colon is typically calm, near 11 km/h, and varies a lot with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.0 months, from around Nov 29 to Apr 28. The windiest month is February, averaging about 18 km/h (light breeze).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Apr 29 to Nov 28, with September the calmest month at about 7 km/h.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezebreezyFeb 11 · 18 km/hSep 19 · 7 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan17light breeze
Feb18light breeze
Mar17light breeze
Apr14light breeze
May9calm
Jun7calm
Jul8calm
Aug8calm
Sep7calm
Oct8calm
Nov10calm
Dec14light breeze

Best time to visit Colon

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Colon throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around mid January, Colon is still near the start of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds not yet at full swing.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 18°C and 28°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Colon for general outdoor tourist activities is from late December to early April, with a peak score in the last week of February.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 22 · 5.7

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan5.2fair
Feb5.6good
Mar5.3fair
Apr4.0fair
May2.9poor
Jun2.7poor
Jul2.7poor
Aug2.7poor
Sep2.7poor
Oct2.9poor
Nov3.1poor
Dec3.9fair

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Colon for hot-weather activities is from early January to early April, with a peak score in the last week of February.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 24 · 7.3

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Colon, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

Colon packs about the same all year — highs hold near 29°C. Across the year the things worth having are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In April, Colon sees daytime highs around 29°C and nights near 25°C. Pack light clothes and rain gear. Worth having: sun protection. About 20 days see rain.

Sea temperature near Colon

Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.

The sea offshore is warmest in October at about 29°C and coldest in February near 27°C.

The water stays above 20°C all year — warm enough for a swim any month.

26°28°30°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwarmtropicalcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan27Warm
Feb27Warm
Mar27Warm
Apr28Warm
May29Tropical
Jun29Tropical
Jul28Tropical
Aug28Tropical
Sep29Tropical
Oct29Tropical
Nov28Tropical
Dec28Warm

UV index (midday) in Colon by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Colon peaks around March 20 at about 13 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 16 at about 10 (very high).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — every month of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeMar 20UV 13Dec 16UV 10
UV index (midday)Level
Jan11Extreme
Feb12Extreme
Mar13Extreme
Apr13Extreme
May13Extreme
Jun13Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug12Extreme
Sep12Extreme
Oct12Extreme
Nov11Extreme
Dec10Very high

Average hourly UV index in Colon

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in March the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan7.55.5
Feb7.56
Mar86
Apr86
May8.56.5
Jun86.5
Jul86
Aug85.5
Sep86
Oct7.55.5
Nov7.55
Dec75

Air quality in Colon by month

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see which months the air is worst, not just the yearly average.

Air quality in Colon is worst in July — around 27 µg/m³ PM2.5 (moderate), about 2.0× the cleanest month (January, 14 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

0102030JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateJul 1526 µg/m³Jan 1314 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan14Moderate
Feb16Moderate
Mar17Moderate
Apr24Moderate
May25Moderate
Jun24Moderate
Jul27Moderate
Aug22Moderate
Sep19Moderate
Oct17Moderate
Nov15Moderate
Dec14Moderate
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Colon is frost-free year round — even the coldest nights rarely reach freezing, so there is no start or end to the growing season.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecfrost-free year round
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 10°C)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 10°C: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Colon banks about 6,146 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around April.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan513
Feb471
Mar529
Apr517
May533
Jun513
Jul523
Aug522
Sep507
Oct518
Nov491
Dec510

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Colon receives about 4.7 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.9 and 5.9 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 4.0 months, from around Jan 10 to May 12. The brightest month is March, averaging about 5.8 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is November, down near 4.0 kWh/m² — roughly 30% less than the March peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseMar 255.9 kWhNov 213.9 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan4.9Bright
Feb5.4Bright
Mar5.8Bright
Apr5.5Bright
May4.7Bright
Jun4.5Bright
Jul4.3Bright
Aug4.5Bright
Sep4.7Bright
Oct4.5Bright
Nov4.0Moderate
Dec4.3Bright

Where is Colon?

Colon sits at 9.4°N, 79.9°W, 2 m above sea level, in Panama. The nearest listed city is Cativá, 7.0 km away.

ChilibreAlcalde DíazLa CabimaLas CumbresArraiján

Topography around Colon

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Colon.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Colon has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 28 m around an average of 2 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 303 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,122 m.

The land around Colon is covered by water (57%) and artificial surfaces (28%) within 3 km, water (59%) and trees (31%) within 16 km, and water (46%) and trees (43%) within 80 km.

3 km
28 m
16 km
303 m
80 km
1,122 m
treesgrasslandartificial surfacesbare terrainwaterwetlandmangroves
Nearby: Cativá 7.0 km · Sabanitas 11 km · Portobelo 34 km · Chilibre 38 km · Alcalde Díaz 46 km · La Cabima 48 km · Las Cumbres 50 km · Arraiján 55 km

Panama travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type A / B
110 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 45% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$19,790
2025
Happiness
6.5 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Homicide rate
11.7
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
13.9
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
Low
EF EPI 491
Religion
Evangelical 55%Roman Catholic 33%none 10%

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Colon (9.3603°, -79.9002°, elevation 2 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).